EDITORIAL: Taxpayers suffer if tax agreements aren't met

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

There seems to be some disagreement between the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency and the owners of a local business which was aided by the agency's action.

The agency says the business owners have enjoyed a property tax break for Skate Time 209, an Accord roller skating rink, but have failed to deliver the jobs they promised in writing when they applied for assistance.

Well, the owners say, we indeed did promise to create more than 20 full-time jobs, but the agreement we signed didn't make that a condition. We just promised to be a tourist attraction and actually created nine full- and part-time jobs.

(This would be the point at which the kid on the playground sticks his tongue out at another. "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah! Failed to get it in writing! Failed to get it in writing!")

Only this is not a schoolyard tiff. It's a sleight of hand, with taxpayers on the losing end.

Moreover, the co-owner of Skate Time 209 is Terry Bernardo, the chairwoman of the Ulster County Legislature. Bernardo owns the skating facility with her husband, Len, a former candidate for Ulster County executive.

Tax breaks are not free. The remaining taxpayers, the ones without the tax breaks, pay for them.

The theory, of course, is that the business resulting from the tax break will create more revenue -- in sometimes indirect ways, such as the taxes paid by employees -- than the tax breaks cost.

We'll leave it to lawyers to argue over the wisdom of not writing the full-time jobs promised in the application into the final contract.

This we know, however: Taxpayers should not be held liable for property tax breaks that don't result in documented, tangible benefits to the community, least of all from a political leader of that community.

In this case, then, the Industrial Development Agency board did the right thing when it decided to revoke the tax benefits granted under the agreement.